Pray as You Can, Not as You Can't

By David Torkington -
I was determined to leave my mark before leaving school, but, as I could not make it in the academic field, I decided that I would have to do it on the athletic field. I spent hours in the gym building up my muscles, on the track increasing my speed, and with my trainer perfecting my technique. On the very last day, I broke the school record at the pole vault and won a gold medal for winning the county Championships at the same time. But, as there were no other competitors, I threw my medal into the bin – it was not worthy of a place in the school’s trophy cabinet. I thought the whole thing was a waste of time, but on reflection, it did teach me something worthwhile that I have never forgotten.
There is no accomplishment of any kind that you can attain merely by desiring to have it. It must be learned and this means giving ever increasing time and energy to perfecting it. As my trainer used to say,  practice makes perfect. This is particularly true of trying to master the most important human accomplishment of all, learning to love. 
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